Never lose sight of the fact that we’re in a service-oriented business and that relationships are paramount.Anthony Izzo
Chief Global Broking Officer and Head of Global Facultative and Hybrid Solutions
What does it take to develop – and maintain – healthy broking partnerships? It’s a pressing question for the re/insurance market as robust operating conditions necessitate the need for consistency and collaboration. And it’s one Anthony Izzo (pictured) has had the opportunity to examine from both sides of the reinsurance ‘fence’, having spent half his career working with world-leading broking houses before he joined Everest Reinsurance as global facultative & distribution head in 2021.
What’s the mood of the market in 2025?
Sharing insights into the mood of the market, Izzo noted that “both sides are listening to each other” and understand that it is by working together that they can continue to deliver strong outcomes, despite an elevated risk environment. In an interview with ReInsurance Business, he highlighted how his new additional role as chief global broking officer for Everest’s recently established global broker management team is allowing him to tap into both his underwriting and broking experience.
“I can see how the experiences of my career give me a slightly different lens into things,” he said. “Speaking candidly, I understand how difficult their job is, to make clients happy and to have difficult conversations amid market changes and program changes. I am very empathetic with them. Having had the privilege of supporting the market for many years now, many of the folks I came up with in my career, now have very senior positions within their firms, so I have long term business relationships with many of them.”
There is a balancing act at the heart of the relationship between brokers and underwriters, and it’s a testament to the overall health of the market when each side understands the balance required.
What does a great reinsurance partnership entail?
As to what a great partnership looks like, he emphasized that “naïve capital doesn’t work long term” as it comes with an inbuilt expiry date. “A good, strong partnership is amicable and respectful,” he said.
"You also need to be able to communicate your position and articulate what you’re trying to achieve respectfully and never lose sight of the fact that we’re in a service-oriented business and that relationships are paramount.”
Passing on the key messages
A key area of focus for Everest is to cascade the information secured from its broker partners down throughout the firm – from P&L leaders, to regional leaders, to regional executives. “The job of this team that we have assembled is to acutely communicate what the needs, concerns and topics of interest are from our brokers down,” he said. “And then it is the responsibility of those folks to cascade that down to the sales and distribution team and the underwriters, etc. There needs to be a strong process put in place to support that communication.”
Beyond that process orientation is the need to continue to build on existing and new distribution partnerships.
“Our brokers and clients want to understand their trading partners, they want a more holistic approach to doing business and our new proposition gives us a bit more stability in their eyes,” Izzo said.
This article originally ran in ReInsurance Business with the title, “What does it take to develop healthy reinsurance broking partnerships.”